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Trucker admits he killed woman, dumped body

Thu, 05/18/2017 - 2:54amScott Rains

ANADARKO - The Arizona trucker jailed for killing and dumping a woman along Interstate 40 in December 2014 pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Juan Gonzalez, 40, pleaded guilty to charges of unlawful removal of a dead body and first-degree manslaughter May 8 in Caddo County District Court, records indicate. He received 5 years in prison for the removal of a dead body charge and 12 years to serve in prison for the manslaughter charge. He will remain under Department of Corrections jurisdiction for another 30 years.

Gonzalez was charged in December 2016 with a count of first-degree murder deliberate intent. He faced the death penalty at that point.

Gonzalez was taken into custody Sept. 2, 2016, in Maricopa County, Ariz., following the discovery by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation of remains of Veneranda Flores, 24, of New Mexico. Her decomposed body was found in April 2015 in a tree line along Interstate 40 near Hinton.

Flores had been missing from New Mexico since Dec. 21, 2014. She was connected to Gonzalez, a long-haul truck driver, through phone records, according to the court affidavits. He told investigators he'd contacted an "internet prostitute" during his down time, but didn't know her name. They went to a casino north of Albuquerque, and cell-phone and tower records for Flores's phone ended there.